Averting 9/11: How Close We Came

Collecting accurate intelligence and building strategic alliances with front line states in Asia and the Middle East are quickly emerging as the indispensable tools for preventing future terrorist attacks. In the on-going 9/11 hearings in Washington, high ranking officials from the Clinton and the current Bush Administrations agree to the inherent difficulties in taking forceful action against Al Qaeda before 9/11. Could the 9/11 terrorist attacks have been avoided? While the question is almost rhetorical, it is clear that either capturing or killing Osama bin Laden was far from a simple task. For one, the hearings have made clear that Al Qaeda raised new challenges for intelligence agencies: As an international terrorist network that was spread across countries and continents, Al Qaeda was not geographically bound in ways that would make it amenable to military and diplomatic action or economic sanctions. Equally, the US faced the challenge of negotiating support from past allies like Pakistan, who just before 9/11 were the subject of military and economic sanctions. Regardless, ongoing 9/11 hearings should illuminate the international diplomacy required in a radically transformed post 9/11 world. – YaleGlobal